Sailors stable at top

Patrick Laverty

Building a program requires stability and, entering her third season,

Newport Harbor High Coach Jen Thompson has provided that for the

girls basketball team.

After becoming the sixth coach in five seasons when she took over

prior to the 2001-02 season, Thompson has stuck around and the effect

has been evident.

The Sailors broke a 20-game league losing streak two seasons ago

and reached the CIF Southern Section playoffs for the first time

since 1999 last year. Newport Harbor’s win totals have increased from

two in 2000-01, the year prior to Thompson’s arrival, to four in her

first season and 13 last year.

Attempting to continue that improvement will be a cast of six

returners and six newcomers who understand the progression of a

rebuilding project.

“I think they do,” Thompson said. “Their goals are not to win the

state CIF championship. Their goal last year was to get to CIF, and

we did that.”

A return to the playoffs is once again priority No. 1, but Newport

Harbor also thinks it can improve on last year’s fifth-place finish

in the Sea View League, which is expected to be led by Woodbridge and

Foothill.

Leading the charge for the Sailors will be a pair of returning

starters, 5-foot-8 senior guard/forward Jillianne Whitfield and 5-9

senior guard Victoria Swigart.

Whitfield is a two-time All-Sea View League selection and has led

the Sailors in scoring each of the last two seasons, averaging 10.9

points per game last year.

Swigart was a second-team all-league selection last season when

she averaged 6.3 points per game and showed a knack for doing all the

little things it takes to win games.

The biggest problem for the Sailors going into this season is that

Whitfield and Swigart are among the team’s biggest players.

Everyone on the team is 5-9 and under with the exception of 5-11

freshman Brittany Deyan. Entering the season, 5-7 junior Kristi

Eddington is slated to start at center.

“We’re working hard on running and conditioning,” Thompson said.

“We need to utilize our quickness because we’re not tall.”

Without a 6-footer for the first time in her coaching career,

Thompson has been stressing rebounding fundamentals to make sure the

Sailors don’t get muscled around inside.

“At any given time, you’re going to be blocking out a 6-footer,”

Thompson said. “You could be the shortest girl on the team and you’re

going to have to know how to do it.”

Helping in that area will be a more stringent weightlifting

program Thompson has installed.

“I don’t want them to get pushed around down low,” Thompson said.

“They need to be able to play with the big girls, so we’ve really

focused on lifting.”

Newport Harbor, which opens the season Dec. 5 at home against

Corona del Mar, will attempt to lift its confidence prior to

beginning league play by playing well in tournaments at University,

Valley Christian of Cerritos and Juno, Alaska. The latter will be a

trip with the boys basketball team that should allow the squad time

to bond together.

“I think we’re still jelling,” Thompson said. “We’ve got six

returners and six newcomers. I’ve been trying to pair up returners

with newcomers, just to get that cohesiveness. Yes, we have new

players, but we’re still one team.”

The other returners, in addition to Whitfield, Swigart and

Eddington, are senior guard Allyson Stoltz, junior Vanessa Miller and

senior Kristi Koon.

They’ll all be playing a free-flowing system that allows anyone to

shoot at any time, a necessity without a presence in the post.

But no matter what they do on offense, Thompson will continue to

stress defense and the Sailors will run a little bit of everything:

man-to-man, full-court pressure, traps and zone.

“I always tell our girls, defense is what wins games and I think

they’re finally starting to see that,” Thompson said.

And Newport Harbor is beginning to see what stability can do for a

program.